Wyoming Public Media Black History Month Program Schedule
Friday, February 4 (repeats Sunday, February 6, 12:00 p.m.)
3:00 p.m. - Peace Talks Radio-John Lewis: Profile in Peace: The late 17-term Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis is remembered in a special that includes the memorial ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol when his body laid in state in the Rotunda, a week after his death July 17, 2020.
New Letters on the Air-Celebrating Black History Month with Poet Gwendolyn Brooks: The late Gwendolyn Brooks shaped countless writers following her long poetic career. This episode looks back on her life as the first African-American Pulitzer Prize winner and highly influential poet, as she reads from her works.
Thursday, February 10
7:00 p.m. - Witness-Black History Month: A special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service, bringing together some incredible interviews looking at the African-American experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are fascinating, harrowing, and inspiring. Segments include: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, American new pioneer Dorothy Butler Gilliam, Nelson Mandela in Detroit, Nasa's pioneering black women, The "Godfather of Gospel Music" and what the Confederate flag represents in America's battle over race.
Saturday, February 12
8:00 p.m. - 1963: A Man's Dream, A Nations Nightmare: An hour-long jazz special: It was a year of raised hopes and devastating tragedy, and the world of jazz continued to reflect both the growing unease and the youthful vitality of a nation in transition. We'll hear the music of John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Eric Dolphy, and others.
Thursday, February 17
7:00 p.m. - Selected Shorts-Celebrating Toni Morrison: Guest host Tayari Jones (New York Times bestselling author, most recently of the novel An American Marriage) helps us to celebrate Morrison, the American master who died in 2019. Morrison's novels, including Beloved, Jazz and Song of Solomon, have become an indelible part of the American canon. Her fierce, poetic visions earned her the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was also an editor, advocate, teacher, and mother. This program features her essay "A Knowing So Deep," read by Jones; an excerpt from The Bluest Eye, read by Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose; an excerpt from Jazz, read by Emmy and Golden Globe winner S. Epatha Merkerson; "Sweetness," read by NAACP Image Award winner Phylicia Rashad, and a tribute by Morrison's close friend Fran Lebowitz.